Elucidating Traditional Rice Varieties for Consilient Biotic and Abiotic Stress Management under Changing Climate with Landscape-Level Rice Biodiversity

Rice is grown under diverse agro-climatic conditions and crop management regimes across the globe. Emerging climatic-vulnerabilities and the mismatched farm practices are becoming major challenges for poor or declining rice productivity in potential rice growing regions, especially South Asia. In the biodiversity-rich landscapes of South Asia, many traditional rice varieties (TRVs) are known to exhibit resilience to climate change and climate adaptation besides their therapeutic benefits. Hence, a random sample survey of farmers ( n = 320), alongwith secondary data collection from non-governmental organizations/farmers’ organizations/farmers, led to documentation of the information on TRVs’ biodiversity in South Asia. The current study (2015–2019) explored and documented ~164 TRVs which may enhance the resilience to climatic-risks with improved yields besides their unique therapeutic benefits. A large number of TRVs have still not been registered by scientific organizations due to poor awareness by the farmers and community organizations. Hence, it is urgently needed to document, evaluate and harness the desired traits of these TRVs for ecological, economic, nutritional and health benefits. This study suggests taking greater cognizance of TRVs for their conservation, need-based crop improvement, and cultivation in the niche-areas owing to their importance in climate-resilient agriculture for overall sustainable rice farming in South Asia so as to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.